Happy New Year of the Dog! What a better way to celebrate than to break into a delicious chocolate bar from Iceland sporting a type of dog (aka wolf) as its logo! I recently went on a trip to Iceland and brought back some milk chocolate goodies. Iceland is well known for their dairy products, such as skyr yogurt, cheese, and butter, and the milk was a wonderful complement to cocoa. I felt that Omnom was one of the top brands from Iceland due to its single origin focus that allowed the complexities of a region’s cocoa to shine.

In the Milk of Nicaragua, I really appreciated the nutty and fudgey flavor of the cocoa, which was complemented very well by the Icelandic milk. I loved that it was a “dark milk” kind of bar so that there was more flavor of the cocoa. The mouthfeel and texture was very smooth and melted very nicely on the tongue. I also noticed that there was a touch of salt, although it was not included in the ingredients list. This really tied together the flavors very well. Ingredients: organic cocoa beans from Nicaragua, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, Icelandic milk powder, sunflower lecithin.

I also loved the unique art on the logo as well as the pattern on the chocolate bar. I felt it represented the spunk and artistry of Reykjavik city quite well. It was a very beautiful tasting and experience all around!

The 85% from Green & Black’s is a a great value for the quality, and frankly, range of darkness that would typically scare most sweet tooths away. The bar is very nutty, with bits of fruit, though not as citrusy as Green & Black’s 70% dark. It also melts on the tongue easily, making it smooth on the palate. This would be a bar that I would also consider melting to use for a dessert, as the flavor profile would suit a caramel taste quite well.

Cauliflower rice is amazing for any flavored rice dishes. Although it really cannot replace its carby counterpart, it carries the flavor of the other items in the dish so well that sometimes rice itself is not needed. Cauliflower makes for such a healthy substitute for that.

In today’s case, I present a shrimp fried rice dish. Shrimp fried rice is one of the most common fried rice dishes that is offered at Chinese restaurants. I had a craving for it since it makes a great accompaniment to my homemade hot and sour soup, so I finally made this creation in an effort to be healthier and add vegetables to my day.

I still find that orange cauliflower is the best color for cauliflower rice. It brings more fun to the dish than the plain white sort, and I find it tends to be a better color than purple, which usually discolors the rest of the ingredients in the dish.

There is usually some variation to the recipe, but generally the recipe contains shrimp, eggs, some type of onion or scallion, and usually some other kind of vegetable. In the below recipe, I added some peas and carrots to the mix. This can also very easily be made vegetarian by removing the shrimp, and still be a flavorful and delicious main or side dish.

Directions
(1) Peel and devein the shrimp. If the shrimps are large, cut into small 1″ segments.
(2) Peel the carrot and dice or grate. Set aside.
(3) Rice the cauliflower via grater, food processor, blender, or manual chopping method. Set aside.
(4) Heat 1/2 Tbsp cooking fat on medium-high heat. When hot, add shrimps and saute about 3 minutes, until the meat is no longer translucent. Remove from the pan.
(6) Add the other 1/2 Tbsp cooking fat and add the carrot and peas. Cook 2-3 minutes, until fragrant. Meanwhile, chop the green onion.
(7) Add the cauliflower and stir for several minutes, until slightly browned. Turn down heat to medium and add soy sauce. Stir to combine.
(5) In another bowl, beat the 2 eggs together. Pour over the cauliflower rice and stir to incorporate evenly. Cook for a few more minutes until the egg is almost no longer raw. Turn off heat and add shrimp back into the mixture, as well as the green onion. Season with black pepper. Stir to combine and let sit for a few more minutes. Serve warm!

One of my beloved defaults for white chocolate is Green & Black’s. This bar has a very simple flavor, with clean cocoa butter taste and a lot of vanilla fragrance. Not too sweet, not too fatty, and melts nicely on the tongue.

I felt this deserved a spot on my blog after so many chocolate bars. I don’t eat many white chocolate bars, especially since most of them turn out chalky from the milk powder. However, if I had to pick any one, this would be my go-to.

Once in a while I will find a rare treat in none other than my neighborhood Target. While they have started to introduce some more specialty chocolate brands, I was surprised to find Askinosie as one of them since the brand is such a specialized product. One of the differentiators for this chocolate brand is that they seek a true social impact different from the sustainability efforts that other larger chocolate brands tout. They run through much smaller batches of chocolate, with product being more proliferated in specialty stores.

The bar begins with a nutty flavor, eventually lending itself to wine and fruit, and finishing with the goat milk that rounded out the tasting nicely. I enjoyed it very much, as the overall flavor was very smooth and the goat milk added a nice gamey touch. It was such a light flavor that I didn’t even notice that it was a “dark chocolate” kind of bar. Great melt on the tongue as well. Would highly recommend for anyone to try, for both milk chocolate and dark chocolate lovers.

Another chocolate brand that prides itself on using raw cocoa beans to form chocolate bars, Raaka has quite the shelfspace at the local Whole Foods. I couldn’t bear my curiosity much longer, so I splurged on the Madagascar bar.

Citrus flavors with gold plum and rice wine according to the flavor profile on the back. I couldn’t agree more – very citrusy with the raw cacao intensifying the prevalance of the flavors on the tongue. Also the melt was very smooth, a pleasant surprise for raw cacao. I was very impressed.

Great flavor aside, Nibmor’s 72% dark chocolate mint bar also has been my best experience with mint-infused chocolate. While most high-end brands simply mix pure mint with the chocolate, the flavors never really blend together, usually giving the impression that the tongue has been exposed to chocolate after sipping some weak mint tea. Even the Green & Black bar that I had reviewed has this issue.

However, Nibmor’s bar actually combines the chocolate with a huge punch of mint, with a flavor that makes it taste more like a conventional mint chocolate chip ice cream or York peppermint patty. While this flavor profile is entirely different from other brands of high-end chocolate bars, I think the public as a whole would be more accepting of this brand. You really couldn’t tell from the ingredient profile, either, with the list entirely organic alongside the hippie-style packaging: organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic cacao nibs, organic mint, organic non-GMO soy lecithin, organic vanilla.